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Ballycastle
Co Antrim
The Town
A beautiful and important town on the Margy River,
with the 1,695-foot high hill of Knocklayd
rising in the south. Part of the town is situated along the
sea front and the older part about 1 mile inland,
both connected by a fine avenue of trees. The town derives
it name from a castle believed to have stood on the site of
the church, which was erected in 1756. There
are excellent facilities for fishing, golf and tennis, the
annual tennis tornament week attracts many visitors.
Another big attraction is;Irelands oldest traditional market fair "The
Aul Lammis Fair" held on the last Monday and Tuesday in
August.. Horse trading, street acts, competitions and market stalls
are among the entertainment.
Friary
The ruins Franciscan Bonamarghy Friary, (A.M.) a short distance east of the town, are fairly extensive and well preserved.Originally thatched the Friary was founded in 1485 by Rory Mc Quillan.As well as many other graves there is a buriel vault containing the remains of the celebrated Mac Donnell Chiefton, "Sorley Boy" and several Earls of Antrim.
Seamen who lost their lives when H.M.S Viknor and H.M.S Racoon went down of the Donegal coast, are also buried here.
Harbour
Up until a few years ago Ballycastle harbour and marina area was quite small with only one little ferry service operating, this was to and from nearby Church Bay in Rathlin Island.
A new harbour was built and was officialy opened in 1999 at a cost of several million pounds to accommodate a new service sailing to the little village of Campbelltown on the Kintyre penisula, Scottish mainland. An upgraded ferry service to Rathlin, were cars and light goods/livestock vehicles could be transported across to the island was also introduced.
Unfortunally after a year or so, vehicles and passengers using the Campbelltown ferry declined and the ferry company had no option other than to to withdraw the service.
The new Rathlin Ferry is still going strong and is a pleasure to sail on. it is a nice experience to look on while it loads-up at the harbour and sails out to sea towards Rathlin Island, which is quite visible from the N.I coast being only a few miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Marconi
Gugliemo Marconi,born in Bologna, Italy on April 25th 1874 whose mother,"Annie Jemison" was Irish,, her family owned the Jameson Whiskey Distillery in County Wexford. Needless I say, his father was Italian! Marconi and his assistances carried out many experiments, the one here in Ballycastle took place in 1898, they hoped to transmit a radio signal from a lighthouse on nerby "Rathlin island" to a house known as "White Lodge" located on the harbour at Ballycastle. The experiment was sucessful. Many claim that this was the first known wireless signal to be transmitted - received but its not totally clear if this was so. However Marconi did not stop here but went on to develop short wave radio. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909. On his death in 1937 he was given a state funeral at his hometown of Bologne.
Marconi's cottage is located approximately 3 miles, east from the town, along the coast road.
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Page created:November 8, 2003
Last Updated: November 10, 2007